Abby Ulffers

Hometown: Greenville, NC

Career interests: OB-GYN, Family Medicine

Hobbies: Cooking, reading, spending time with friends and family

Education: Undergraduate: East Carolina University, Bachelor of Science in Public Health

Enrichment Experiences

Project MOMS: Mothers, mOvement, and Maternal Health Care Providers Study

This summer worked with Dr. Bhibha Das in the ECU Department of Kinesiology to draft and publish Project MOMS. This project focused on assessing maternal health care providers personal physical activity levels, evaluated their knowledge of physical activity benefits, examined barriers to physical activity counseling, and determined whether a relationship exists between providers’ physical activity levels and barriers to physical activity counseling. After acceptance for publication, we will begin working on the long-term goal of developing an OBGYN focused medical student and resident educational program focused on 1) knowledge of physical activity guidelines for pregnant women, 2) how to prescribe physical activity for pregnant women, and 3) confidence in providing physical activity prescription for pregnant women.

LINC Scholar: Health System Transformation and Leadership Distinction Track

As a LINC (Leaders in INnovative Care) Scholar, I spent the summer between my M1 and M2 year learning about health systems science, patient safety, quality improvement, interprofessional team-based care, and population health through discussions, leadership interviews, and hands-on experiences. Longitudinally, I will be working on a quality improvement project with the ECU Physicians Adult and Pediatric Health Care Clinic under the supervision of Dr. Tim Powell.

OB-GYN Interest Group, Vice President

This organization focuses on introducing Brody students to the OB/GYN specialty and educating students on the broad field of women’s care. This role has allowed me to network with pelvic floor therapists, lactation specialists, and OBGYN attendings and residents to learn more about how the OB/GYN specialty serves the women of Pitt County.

Upcoming Plans

As an M2 I look forward to being in the classroom this year learning in a systems-based approach and beginning to apply the knowledge I have gained in clinical scenarios. I am excited to continue involvement within the Brody community and hope to sharpen my clinical skills in preparation for M3 rotations.